Localized selectable location and/or time for search queries and/or search query results

ABSTRACT

Briefly, embodiments of methods or systems providing a mobile device user with localized and/or time-selectable search query terms and/or search results are provided.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

This disclosure relates to search queries and/or search results.

2. Information

At times, a mobile device user may find themselves in an unfamiliarenvironment, such as while on vacation, on a business trip, or during anafternoon family outing, for example. A mobile device user may access asmart phone, or other handheld computing and/or communications device inan attempt to determine popular places, landmarks, restaurants, or thelike, that may provide entertainment, dining, and/or recreationalopportunities. However, although a mobile device user may be capable ofaccessing a search engine, which may enable a user to gain someknowledge as to a location of nearby establishments, he or she may havelittle knowledge concerning uniqueness, quality, and/or popularity ofparticular restaurants, entertainment venues, attractions, or the like.A mobile device user may at times themselves unproductively searchingfor venues as a result.

In other instances, for example, a vacationing mobile device user mayattempt to plan a future event, such as a dinner for an upcoming eveningor a breakfast the following day, for example. Here, again, although amobile device user may have access to a search engine, the user may havedifficulty knowing whether a nightclub, for example, which may be closedduring the day, is likely to represent worthwhile entertainment in theevening. A mobile device user may access outdated reviews, reviews frompotentially untrustworthy sources, or reviews that may be more relevantto a day of the week that is different than a day of the week ofinterest to a mobile device user, for example. Accordingly, a mobiledevice user may be capable of performing searches for venues that may atleast appear to be appealing, but may not be entirely suitable for anoccasion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Claimed subject matter is particularly pointed out and/or distinctlyclaimed in the concluding portion of the specification. However, both asto organization and/or method of operation, together with objects,features, and/or advantages thereof, claimed subject matter may beunderstood by reference to the following detailed description if readwith the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a map showing locations of mobiledevices and various localized regions according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing various search queries stored indatabases pertaining to localized regions according to an embodiment;

FIGS. 3-4 are schematic diagrams of a display device rendering possibleuser interfaces according to an embodiment;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are schematic diagrams of a portion of a map showing alocalized region according to an embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart for a method according to an embodiment; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a computing platform that may beemployed according to an embodiment.

Reference is made in the following detailed description to accompanyingdrawings, which form a part hereof, wherein like numerals may designatelike parts throughout to indicate corresponding and/or analogouscomponents. It will be appreciated that components illustrated in thefigures have not necessarily been drawn to scale, such as for simplicityand/or clarity of illustration. For example, dimensions of somecomponents may be exaggerated relative to other components. Further, itis to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized. Furthermore,structural and/or other changes may be made without departing fromclaimed subject matter. It should also be noted that directions and/orreferences, for example, up, down, top, bottom, and so on, may be usedto facilitate discussion of drawings and/or are not intended to restrictapplication of claimed subject matter. Therefore, the following detaileddescription is not to be taken to limit claimed subject matter and/orequivalents.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are setforth to provide a thorough understanding of claimed subject matter. Forpurposes of explanation, specific numbers, systems, and/orconfigurations are set forth, for example. However, it should beapparent to one skilled in the relevant art having benefit of thisdisclosure that claimed subject matter may be practiced without specificdetails. In other instances, well-known features may be omitted and/orsimplified so as not to obscure claimed subject matter. While certainfeatures have been illustrated and/or described herein, manymodifications, substitutions, changes, and/or equivalents may occur tothose skilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood thatappended claims are intended to cover any and all modifications and/orchanges as fall within claimed subject matter.

Reference throughout this specification to one implementation, animplementation, one embodiment, an embodiment and/or the like may meanthat a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described inconnection with a particular implementation or embodiment may beincluded in at least one implementation or embodiment of claimed subjectmatter. Thus, appearances of such phrases, for example, in variousplaces throughout this specification are not necessarily intended torefer to the same implementation or to any one particular implementationdescribed. Furthermore, it is to be understood that particular features,structures, or characteristics described may be combined in various waysin one or more implementations. In general, of course, these and otherissues may vary with context. Therefore, particular context ofdescription or usage may provide helpful guidance regarding inferencesto be drawn.

Operations and/or processing, such as in association with networks, suchas communication networks, for example, may involve physicalmanipulations of physical quantities. Typically, although notnecessarily, these quantities may take the form of electrical and/ormagnetic signals or states capable of, for example, being stored,transferred, combined, processed, compared, and/or otherwisemanipulated. It has proven convenient, at times, principally for reasonsof common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, data, values,elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, numerals, and/or thelike. It should be understood, however, that all of these or similarterms are to be associated with appropriate physical quantities and areintended to merely be convenient labels.

Likewise, in this context, the terms “coupled,” “connected,” and/orsimilar terms, may be used. It should be understood that these terms arenot intended as synonyms. Rather, “connected” may be used to indicatethat two or more elements or other components, for example, are indirect physical and/or electrical contact; while, “coupled” may meanthat two or more components are in direct physical or electricalcontact; however, “coupled” may also mean that two or more componentsare not in direct contact, but may nonetheless co-operate or interact.The term “coupled” may also be understood to mean indirectly connected,for example, in an appropriate context.

The terms, “and,” “or,” “and/or,” and/or similar terms, as used herein,may include a variety of meanings that also are expected to depend atleast in part upon the particular context in which such terms are used.Typically, “or” if used to associate a list, such as A, B, or C, isintended to mean A, B, and C, here used in the inclusive sense, as wellas A, B, or C, here used in the exclusive sense. In addition, the term“one or more” and/or similar terms may be used to describe any feature,structure, and/or characteristic in the singular and/or may be used todescribe a plurality or some other combination of features, structuresand/or characteristics. Though it should be noted that this is merely anillustrative example and claimed subject matter is not limited to thisexample. Again, particular context of description or usage may providehelpful guidance regarding inferences to be drawn.

It should be understood that for ease of description, a network devicemay be embodied and/or described in terms of a computing device.However, it should further be understood that this description should inno way be construed that claimed subject matter is limited to oneembodiment, such as a computing device or a network device, and,instead, may be embodied as a variety of devices or combinationsthereof, including, for example, one or more illustrative examples.

In this context, the term “network device” refers to any device capableof communicating via and/or as part of a network. Network devices may becapable of sending and/or receiving signals (e.g., signal packets), suchas via a wired or wireless network, may be capable of performingarithmetic and/or logic operations, processing and/or storing signals,such as in memory as physical memory states, and/or may, for example,operate as a server. Network devices capable of operating as a server,or otherwise, may include, as examples, dedicated rack-mounted servers,desktop computers, laptop computers, set top boxes, tablets, netbooks,smart phones, integrated devices combining two or more features of theforegoing devices, the like or any combination thereof.

A network may comprise two or more network devices and/or may couplenetwork devices so that signal communications, such as in the form ofsignal packets, for example, may be exchanged, such as between a serverand a client device and/or other types of network devices, includingbetween wireless devices coupled via a wireless network, for example. Itis noted that the terms, server, server device, server computing device,server computing platform, and/or similar terms are usedinterchangeably. Similarly, the terms client, client device, clientcomputing device, client computing platform, mobile computing device,mobile device, and/or similar terms are also used interchangeably. Whilein some instances, for ease of description, these terms may be used inthe singular, such as by referring to a “client device” or a “serverdevice,” the description is intended to encompass one or more clientdevices or one or more server devices, as appropriate. Along similarlines, references to a “database” are understood to mean, one or moredatabases and/or portions thereof, as appropriate.

A network may also include now known, or to be later developedarrangements, derivatives, and/or improvements, including, for example,past, present and/or future mass storage, such as network attachedstorage (NAS), a storage area network (SAN), and/or other forms ofcomputer and/or machine readable media, for example. A network mayinclude the Internet, one or more local area networks (LANs), one ormore wide area networks (WANs), wire-line type connections, wirelesstype connections, other connections, and/or any combination thereof.Thus, a network may be worldwide in scope and/or extent. Likewise,sub-networks, such as may employ differing architectures or may becompliant and/or compatible with differing protocols, such ascommunication protocols (e.g., network communication protocols), mayinteroperate within a larger network. Various types of devices may bemade available so that device interoperability is enabled and/or, in atleast some instances, may be transparent to the devices. In thiscontext, the term transparent refers to communicating in a manner sothat communications may pass through intermediaries, but without thecommunications necessarily specifying one or more intermediaries, suchas intermediate devices, and/or may include communicating as ifintermediaries, such as intermediate devices, are not necessarilyinvolved. For example, a router may provide a link between otherwiseseparate and/or independent LANs. In this context, a private networkrefers to a particular, limited set of network devices able tocommunicate with other network devices in the particular, limited set,such as via signal packet transmissions, for example, without a need forre-routing and/or redirecting such communications. A private network maycomprise a stand-alone network; however, a private network may alsocomprise a subset of a larger network, such as, for example, withoutlimitation, the Internet. Thus, for example, a private network “in thecloud” may refer to a private network that comprises a subset of theInternet, for example. Although signal packet transmissions may employintermediate devices to exchange signal packet transmissions, thoseintermediate devices may not necessarily be included in the privatenetwork by not being a source or destination for one or more signalpacket transmissions, for example. As another example, a logicalbroadcast domain may comprise an example of a private network. It isunderstood in this context that a private network may provide outgoingcommunications to devices not in the private network, but such devicesoutside the private network may not direct inbound communications todevices included in the private network.

The Internet refers to a decentralized global network of interoperablenetworks, including devices that are part of those interoperablenetworks. The Internet includes local area networks (LANs), wide areanetworks (WANs), wireless networks, and/or long-haul public networksthat, for example, may allow signal packets to be communicated betweenLANs. The term world wide web (WWW) and/or similar terms may also beused to refer to the Internet. Signal packets, also referred to assignal packet transmissions, may be communicated between nodes of anetwork, where a node may comprise one or more network devices, forexample. As an illustrative example, but without limitation, a node maycomprise one or more sites employing a local network address. Likewise,a device, such as a network device, may be associated with that node. Asignal packet may, for example, be communicated via a communicationchannel or a communication path comprising the Internet, from a site viaan access node coupled to the Internet. Likewise, a signal packet may beforwarded via network nodes to a target site coupled to a local network,for example. A signal packet communicated via the Internet, for example,may be routed via a path comprising one or more gateways, servers, etc.that may, for example, route a signal packet in accordance with a targetaddress and availability of a network path of network nodes to a targetaddress.

Physically connecting portions of a network via a hardware bridge, asone example, may be done, although other approaches also exist. Ahardware bridge, however, may not typically include a capability ofinteroperability via higher levels of a network protocol. A networkprotocol refers to a set of signaling conventions for communicationsbetween or among devices in a network, typically network devices, butmay include computing devices, as previously discussed; for example,devices that substantially comply with the protocol or that aresubstantially compatible with the protocol. In this context, the term“between” and/or similar terms are understood to include “among” ifappropriate for the particular usage. Likewise, in this context, theterms “compatible with,” “comply with” and/or similar terms areunderstood to include substantial compliance or substantialcompatibility. Typically, a network protocol has several layers. Theselayers may be referred to here as a communication stack. Various typesof communications may occur across various layers. For example, as onemoves higher in a communication stack, additional functions may beavailable by transmitting communications that are compatible and/orcompliant with a particular network protocol at these higher layers.

A network may be very large, such as comprising thousands of nodes,millions of nodes, billions of nodes, or more, as examples. Medianetworks, such as the Yahoo!™ network, for example, may be increasinglyseeking ways to attract users to their networks and/or to retain userswithin their networks for extended periods of time. A media network may,for example, comprise an Internet website or group of websites havingone or more sections. For instance, the Yahoo!™ network includeswebsites located within different categorized sections, such as sports,finance, current events, games, matters of local interest, to name justa few non-limiting examples among a variety of possible examples. Toattract and/or retain users within its network, Yahoo!™ and/or othermedia networks may continually strive to provide content relating tocategorized and/or localized sections that may be interesting, relevant,and/or of use to users.

As more users remain within a media network for extended periods oftime, a media network may become more valuable to potential advertisers.Thus, typically, advertisers may be inclined to pay more money and/orprovide other considerations to a media network in return foradvertising to users, for example, via that media network, its partners,and/or subsidiaries. In an implementation, if a user displays a page,perhaps as a result of utilizing a search engine, a server (or othersource) located within or external to a processing and/or communicationsinfrastructure of a media network may deliver relevant content, whichmay include, for example, textual and/or multimedia content that mayentice users to remain for a relatively extended period of time. Access,such as links to content (e.g., such as hyperlinks to websites locatedoutside of a media network), may also be presented to users. Thus, evenif users are directed to websites outside of a particular media network,users may remain loyal to the media network in the future if theybelieve that the network consistently provides access, such as links, orotherwise directs them to relevant and/or useful content. In thiscontext, the term “content” includes, as examples, images, video, audio,text, and/or multimedia, such in the form of stored physical (e.g.,memory) states or in the form of electronic signals, for example.

As a non-limiting example, responsive to submitting a search query(e.g., search terms that may be submitted to an online search engine)for example, or as a result of any other type of user interaction with aclient computing platform, for example, such as via a browser, a usermay access one or more pages (e.g., web pages), for example. In animplementation, a “cookie” or other identifier (e.g., for example,locally stored physical (e.g., memory) states capturing detailsregarding a website interaction) may be used to identify a clientcomputing platform, including a computing device, to one or moreservers, for example. In this context, the term query, search query orthe like is understood to refer to a search query conducted via anonline search engine. Likewise, the term query results, search resultsor the like in this context are understood to refer to results returnedas a result of submitting a search query to an online search engine. Toperform a content retrieving operation for example, a server, forexample, may perform one or more operations based, at least in part, onone or more modules of executable instructions, such as software orfirmware, for example. It is noted that terms, such as “operation,” and“function,” or the like, may be used interchangeably in this context. Itshould also be noted that claimed subject matter is not limited touser-submitted queries and/or may also include query results.

As the term is used herein, a “localized region” may comprise a divisionof an area on the surface of the Earth. Localized refers to a localproximity that may vary to some extent with the particular situationand/or context. Localized regions may comprise an approximatelyrectangular area or an area characterized or identified by another typeof polygon, having one or more sides expressed, for example, in terms ofmeters and/or kilometers. In one example, an urban environment may bedivided into rectangular shaped localized regions having sides measuringapproximately 1.0 kilometers, or other distance, for example. In anotherexample, a localized region within a rural environment may comprise anapproximately rectangular area, or an area characterized by another typeof polygon, having one or more sides measuring approximately 10.0kilometers or other distance, for example. In some embodiments, an areamay comprise a mix of differently-sized localized regions, wherein forexample, a portion of an area may be divided into localized regionscomprising approximately 1.0 kilometer×1.0 kilometer rectangles, whileother localized regions may be divided into, for example, 2.0kilometer×2.0 rectangles. Localized regions may also be characterized bya variety of irregularly shaped boundaries that may coincide withshorelines, rivers, landmarks, international borders, national parks,military bases, Indian reservations and so forth, and claimed subjectmatter is not limited in this respect. It is, of course, understood,that a region is not limited to any particular shape. Rather, these aremerely illustrative examples.

A localized region may also comprise one or more neighborhoods or othersemi-regularly known areas that may change over time. A localized regionmay thus encompass a more colloquially known area without otherwiseformally recognized boundaries. In one possible example, a localizedregion may comprise the Chinatown neighborhood in San Francisco or theGreenwich Village area of New York City. A localized region may alsoencompass one or more occasional short-lived communities such as “SuperBowl Village,” which may comprise an irregularly-shaped short-lived(e.g., temporary) area that may be established for days preceding and/orfollowing a Super Bowl, for example. Localized regions may compriseother types of communities and/or neighborhoods, and claimed subjectmatter is not limited in this respect.

A localized region may also comprise an area characterized by searchqueries and/or search results submitted by mobile device users at afrequency greater than a threshold amount, for example. Thus, forexample, in one embodiment, a localized region may be associated with anamount of queries and/or associated results capable of being processedconveniently. For example, a region in an urban area may have adifferent geographical size that a region in a desert area, although,for example, a roughly equivalent amount of queries and/or associatedresults may correspond to those regions. In one possible example, if anumber of mobile device users at locations near a particular area of SanFrancisco, for example, submit queries comprising particular querysearch terms such as “Fisherman's Wharf,” a localized regionencompassing the locations near the particular area may be identified.In embodiments, mobile devices within a localized region may compute oneor more position estimations using a satellite positioning system, suchas the Global Positioning System, for example, and/or using otherapproaches, such as Advanced Forward Link Trilateration, positioningassistance via Wi-Fi signals, and/or any other position estimationtechnique, and claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect.

As the term is used herein, a “timeframe” may refer to at least anapproximate and/or recognized (e.g., local and/or otherwise) timewindow. It is noted that a localized time frame may refer to onerecognized in a local proximity, although, again, this may vary withparticular situations and/or contexts. Thus, for example, a timeframemay comprise a particular or approximate range of hours during a day,such as, from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM, etc. or anapproximate range. A timeframe may comprise a customary time spanreferenced from a specific or approximate time of day, such as “quittingtime,” which may be used to express a time span shortly before and afterapproximately 5:00 PM.

A timeframe may also comprise a traditional or customary occurrence,such as “early morning,” “breakfast,” “lunch,” “brunch,” “siesta,”“happy hour,” or other event, which may vary from place to place (e.g.,localized). For example, in certain urban areas, “rush hour” mayindicate an approximately one-hour time span prior to approximately 8:00AM. In other areas, for example, rush-hour may indicate an approximatelyone-hour time span prior to 9:00 AM. In another example, in some partsof Latin America, a “siesta” timeframe may comprise a period of timebetween approximately 2:00 PM and approximately 5:00 PM. However, inother parts of Latin America, a siesta timeframe may comprise a periodof time between approximately 1:00 PM and approximately 3:00 PM, forexample. A timeframe may also comprise a particular or approximate timespan that may be referenced to a portion of an event, such as prior tothe start of a football game, during a football game, an intermission(e.g., halftime), and/or post-game. In another example, a timeframe maybe referenced to a parade, such as before a parade, during a parade,and/or after a parade, for example. Accordingly, in embodiments, atimeframe may indicate a time span as indicated by a clock or may beexpressed according to one or more local customs and/or traditions(e.g., localized). In still other embodiments, a timeframe may indicatea time span that is referenced to an event, such as a sporting event,for example, and claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect.

As previously alluded to herein, a mobile device user may occasionallyfind themselves in an unfamiliar environment, such as while on vacation,on a business trip, just to name a couple of examples. Thus, a user mayaccess his or her mobile device, such as a smart phone or other handheldcomputing and/or communications device (e.g., tablet computer, laptopcomputer, wearable computing device, and so forth) in an attempt todetermine which establishments (e.g., landmarks, restaurants,recreational facilities, etc.) that may provide entertainment, dining,or the like. This may involve a mobile device user accessing an onlinesearch engine, which may enable a user to gain some knowledge as to alocation of nearby establishments based, at least in part, on asubmitted query. In response, a server may convey names and/or addressesof establishments, for example, and/or other content that may pertainsto one or more establishments. However, submitted search queries may notprovide a mobile device user with an indication of popularity, forexample, of an establishment. It is noted that in this context,popularity may be measured in a variety of ways. As one example, afrequency and/or number of times a search query is received and/or anumber of times an establishment appears in a search result; however, inthis context, the term popularity is intended to be sufficientlyunderstood so that other techniques for measuring popularity via onlineusage or the like is intended to be included in this context. Further,while submitted search queries may be relevant to a current time andlocation of a mobile device user, in many instances, a user may havelittle knowledge of popularity, ambiance, mood, and/or appeal ofparticular restaurants, entertainment venues, attractions, or the like.Thus, for example, a mobile device user may find themselves visitingseveral establishments, many of which do not meet his or herexpectations.

In related instances, a mobile device user visiting an unfamiliar city,for example, may attempt to plan a future event, such as a dinner for anupcoming evening or a breakfast on a subsequent day, just to name twoexamples. Again, while a user may have access to a search engine by wayof a handheld mobile device, a user may have difficulty knowing whethera restaurant, for example, represents a popular establishment or whetheran establishment leaves much to be desired. In these instances, withoutknowledge of popularity of a particular establishment, a mobile deviceuser may access outdated reviews, reviews from potentially biasedsources, for example.

In other instances, although a mobile device user may be capable ofaccessing one or more credible reviews of an establishment, reviews maybe relevant to a different time of day or for a different day of a weekthan is of interest to a user, for example. In one possible example, anightclub may post favorable reviews for Friday and Saturday nightevents, but may be virtually deserted during from Sunday throughThursday. In another example, if a mobile device user is interested invisiting an establishment during a particular holiday, he or she may becapable of accessing general reviews for an establishment. However,ascertaining if an establishment is, in fact, a popular destination on aparticular day of a week or on a particular holiday may be problematicor at least inconvenient.

In embodiments, a mobile device user at a localized region may beprovided with a capability to access n-grams (e.g., bigrams, trigrams,and so forth) corresponding to query search terms and/or query searchresults submitted by other mobile device users in a localized region,which may include, for example, a user's current location, and/or auser-selectable timeframe. For example, a mobile device user planning adining event for 7:00 PM may obtain popular search query n-grams and/orsearch results for one or more searches submitted at 7:00 PM on aprevious day by other mobile devices within the same or substantiallythe same localized region and/or a nearby localized region. By obtainingpopular query search terms, for example, submitted by other mobiledevice users at a particular time on a previous day, for example, amobile device user may gain insight into what is more likely to bepopular at that time, or at a similar time, of the current day. Forexample, if a mobile device user located in the same or similarlocalized region, at approximately 7:00 PM, submits a query “Where isAlito's Restaurant” the bigram “Alito's Restaurant,” may be extractedfrom a query and stored in a database along with one or more querysearch results. Thus, if a mobile device user is planning a dining eventfor approximately 7:00 PM on a different evening, such as this evening,a user may access a website, for example, and determine that Alito'sRestaurant is more likely to be a popular destination. Insight may, forexample, permit a mobile device user to reserve one or more tables at apopular restaurant, invite friends, plan routes and/or follow-onactivities, and so forth.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a map 100 showing locations ofmobile devices and various localized regions according to an embodiment.Of course, claimed subject matter is not limited in scope to mobiledevices. However, continuing, in FIG. 1, shoreline 160 is shown curvingaround various portions of an urban area, which, for this example,corresponds to a portion of the city of San Francisco. An outline ofshoreline 160 shows marinas, piers, and/or other features, such asaquatic park 150 and a localized region that includes Fisherman's Wharf120. It should be noted that FIG. 1 is merely representative of an urbanarea, and claimed subject matter is intended to embrace all types ofareas, such as urban areas, suburban areas, rural areas, uninhabitedareas, national parks, military bases, and so forth.

Within a localized region that includes Fisherman's Wharf 120, severalor even many of mobile devices 110 may be present. Mobile devices 110may compute estimates of current positions by way of acquiring signalsfrom GPS satellites, for example, or may estimate current positionsusing other location estimation approaches, such as Advanced ForwardLink Trilateration, Wi-Fi signals, or by way of any other positionestimation technique, and claimed subject matter is not limited in thisrespect. Although not explicitly identified in FIG. 1, one or more ofmobile devices 110 may be co-located with one or more mobile deviceusers, who may be shopping, dining, sightseeing, and so forth. Again,claimed subject matter is not limited in scope to use with mobiledevices.

In embodiments, users co-located with one or more of mobile devices 110may submit search queries and/or receive search query results pertainingto nearby points of interest, for example. Thus, in one possibleexample, a mobile device user located within a localized region thatincludes Fisherman's Wharf 120 may submit a search query and/or receivesearch results pertaining to one or more dining establishments locatedwithin a localized region. In some instances, for example, searchqueries and/or search results may be unlikely to be present inconnection with queries employing search terms submitted by mobiledevice users estimated to be located outside the localized region. Thus,for example, a mobile device user at an estimated position within alocalized region that includes Fisherman's Wharf 120 may be more likelyto submit search queries, and/or receive search results, pertaining torestaurants, pubs, café s, and other points of interest also within thelocalized region that includes Fisherman's Wharf 120, for example.Further, a mobile device user may be less likely to submit queries,and/or receive search results, pertaining to locations outside thelocalized region that includes Fisherman's Wharf 120.

In another example, mobile device users at an estimated position withinChinatown neighborhood 140, which may comprise a polygon-shapedneighborhood comprising several city blocks in first and seconddirections, may, for example, be more likely to submit search queriesand/or receive search results pertaining to establishments locatedwithin Chinatown neighborhood 140. Queries may include restaurantslocated within Chinatown neighborhood 140, and/or other goods and/orservices that may be likely be obtained in Chinatown and may be lesslikely to be obtainable outside Chinatown, for example. It, therefore,may be desirable to employ a mechanism or an approach to capture queriesand/or associated search results for a localized position and/or alocalized time, for example.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram 200 showing various search queries storedin databases, such as pertaining to localized regions according to anembodiment, for example. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, query database 220may comprise search queries and/or search results received from, forexample, mobile device users at estimated locations within, for example,the localized region that includes Fisherman's Wharf 120 of FIG. 1 in anembodiment. Query database 240, also shown in FIG. 2, may comprisesearch queries and/or search results received from users at estimatedlocations within Chinatown 140. Thus, for example, query database 220may comprise queries pertaining to one or more restaurants, such asAlito's Restaurant, located within a localized region that includesFishermen's Wharf 120. Possible queries may include, for example, “Whereis Alito's restaurant,” “Is Alito's restaurant good,” and “Alito'srestaurant menu.” In a similar manner, query database 240 may comprisean analogous or other arrangement of received queries, such as “lookingfor dim sum,” “best dim sum,” “dim sum sale.” Of course, querydatabases, such as query databases 220 and 240, may include a largenumber of additional queries not shown in FIG. 2, which may pertain to,for example, different restaurants, shops, pubs, nightclubs, and/or avariety of other points of interest within the localized region thatincludes, for example, Fisherman's Wharf 120, and claimed subject matteris not limited in this respect. Query database 220 may also include, forexample, queries that may appear unrelated to a localized region thatincludes Fisherman's Wharf 120, such as, for example, “Where is Highway101” as shown in FIG. 2. Query database 220 may store query search terms(e.g., bigrams, trigrams, and so forth) and/or search results over atime period comprising, for example, the preceding six months, one year,five years, and so forth, and claimed subject matter is not limited tostorage of search terms and/or results over any particular time period.Further, database 220 may be periodically and/or occasionally updated ina manner that permits emphasis of more recent search terms and/orresults in relation to less recent search terms and/or results, forexample, as explained here.

In embodiments, queries from mobile device users at localized regions,such as a localized region that includes Fisherman's Wharf 120 and/orChinatown neighborhood 140, for example, may be arranged within adatabase as one or more electronic documents. Electronic documents may,for example, comprise universal resource locators (URLs), structureddocuments, such as XML or PDF documents, and so forth. Accordingly, inthe example of FIG. 2, an online search engine, such as may be implementvia one or more servers, may receive queries from mobile device users,which may number into the thousands, millions, and so forth. In anembodiment, for example, servers implementing an online search engine,for example, may electronically filter one or more electronic documentsto identify search terms and/or combinations of search terms (e.g.,bigrams, trigrams, and so forth) and claimed subject matter is notlimited in this respect.

A variety of queries submitted by mobile device users within localizedregions may be processed so as to rank popularity of one or more searchterms based, at least in part, for example, on frequency of occurrenceof search terms and/or combinations of search terms or a similarapproach. As discussed previously, a variety of approaches to measuringpopularity in an online context may be employed and are intended to beincluded within claimed subject matter. In the example of FIG. 2,queries comprising search terms “Alito's restaurant” from query database220 may be filtered which may, at least in one possible example, resultin a determination that the search terms “Alito's restaurant” appear ata relatively greater frequency compared with other search terms.Similarly, one or more servers, for example, executing a process maydetermine that queries comprising the search terms “dim sum” from querydatabase 240 may appear with a greater frequency relative to othersearch terms. In embodiments, various techniques may be employed todetermine or to estimate popularity of one or more search terms and/orsearch results, such as through a use of filtering approaches.

As a non-limiting example, one technique may comprise a termfrequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) approach, for example. Inparticular embodiments, if a search term appears in a relatively largenumber of search queries from mobile device users located within alocalized region (Q₁), and appears in a small number of queries frommobile device users located outside of a localized region (Q₂), a ratioof Q₁/Q₂ may be employed to identify search terms and/or search resultsof interest. In one possible example, for a larger ratio of Q₁/Q₂, forexample, emphasis of a search term and/or search result may beincreased. For smaller ratios of Q₁/Q₂, emphasis of a search term and/orsearch result may be decreased. It should be noted, however, that thisapproach reflects merely one of many approaches toward identifyingsearch terms and/or search results, and claimed subject matter is notintended to be limited to use of any particular approach.

In embodiments, query databases 220 and 240 may comprise one or morepages, in which a page may comprise, for example, queries submitted bymobile device users filtered according to a given timeframe, forexample. Thus, queries received during a traditional ‘dinner” timeframe,e.g., in accordance with a time stamp for a submitted query, forexample, such as between 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM, may be arranged in aparticular page or block of pages within database 220. Likewise, queriesfrom Chinatown neighborhood 140 received during the morning hours, suchas between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM may be arranged in a particular page orblock of pages within database 240. Additional pages and/or blocks ofpages within query databases 220 and 240 may be indexed according todifferent timeframes, such as between particular hours of a day,traditional or customary occurrences (e.g., breakfast, lunch, happyhour, etc.), or may be indexed and/or referenced relative to a portionof a sporting event (e.g., pregame, halftime, post-game, etc.), andclaimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. It should befurther noted that pages of query databases 220 and 240 may be indexedaccording to days of the week, for example, in which days of the weekmay be separately indexed. In other implementations, however, daysduring a workweek (e.g., Monday through Friday) may be grouped togetherin a first page, and days during a weekend (e.g., Saturday-Sunday) maybe grouped together in a second page. Further, in certainimplementations, pages of query databases 220 and 240 may be indexedaccording to traditional holidays, such as a religious or secularholiday, a non-work day designated by a government authority, or anycombination thereof, based, for example, on user submitted searchqueries and/or search results.

Returning to FIG. 1, query search terms received from users at otherlocalized regions, such as rectangular shaped localized region 130,which may comprise an area encompassing at least a portion of LombardStreet. Query search terms received from mobile devices at estimatedlocations within localized region 130 may be arranged into one or moreelectronic documents in a query database, which may be structured in amanner similar to query database 220 in 240 of FIG. 2, for example.Likewise, query search terms received from mobile device users atestimated positions within a localized region nearby Aquatic Park 150may also be arranged into electronic documents of a query database, forexample. Of course, an urban area, such as depicted in FIG. 1, forexample, may be divided into many localized regions, wherein localizedregions may correspond with a query database, for example, and claimedsubject matter is not limited to any number of localized regions and/orquery databases.

FIG. 3 shows a display device 300 rendering a possible user interfaceaccording to an embodiment. Of course, claimed subject matter is notlimited in scope to examples provided for illustration purposes. Displaydevice 300 may correspond to a display device of, for example, mobiledevice 110 shown in FIG. 1. In one embodiment, responsive to a mobiledevice user initiating an application by way of a user interface thatmay operate on a mobile device, for example, a user's estimated locationand/or one or more portions of a user profile may be transmittedwirelessly to one or more servers, such as may include one or moreprocessors, for example, coupled to one or more query databases, such asquery databases 220. Responsive to receipt of a mobile device'sestimated location, a desired day of a week and/or timeframe, a servermay transmit suggestions across a wireless communications channel to bereceived by a mobile device. Search query terms and/or results may bedisplayed in suggestions window 320 of display device 310. Likewise, inanother embodiment, rather than a client device application, a webinterface may be employed.

In the specific example of FIG. 3, a mobile device user may position ascrub bar slider 340 to a location on scrub bar 330 corresponding to a“Lunch” entry on timeframe list 350. In response to a user selection, amobile device may wirelessly transmit a selected timeframe (e.g.,“Lunch”) and a selected day, which may be selected using day selector360, to a server that may access one or more query databases forexample. A mobile device may additionally transmit an estimatedlocation, which may be computed by way of acquiring signals from GPSsatellites, or may be estimated using other position estimationapproaches, such as Advanced Forward Link Trilateration. Positioningassistance may also be achieved using Wi-Fi signals, such as round tripsignal delay measurements, comparison of received signal strength withheatmap signatures overlaid on an electronic digital map, or the like.In response, a server may transmit a list of popular search terms to amobile device for display in suggestions window 320, which is renderedin window 310.

In embodiments, based, at least in part, on an estimated location and/ora history of a user's past search queries, a server may transmitsuggestions to a mobile device. In one possible example, if a user has ahistory of initiating search queries for certain types of restaurants,such as Chinese, Mexican, Vietnamese, and so forth, a server may, orwithout user input, transmit popular search queries and/or searchresults that may be relevant to these types of restaurants. Accordingly,upon or after power up of a mobile device in a particular localizedregion, a mobile device user may receive query terms and/or searchresults that may be more likely to pertain to a user's interests.

Suggestions listed within suggestions window 320 may be rendered using aparticular font size, for example, which may correspond to a particularestablishment's popularity. Thus, for example, if Alito's Restaurantcorresponds to a popular search term and/or search result for a giventimeframe (e.g., lunch), Alito's restaurant may be emphasized using afont size larger than other text displayed in suggestions window 320.Less popular search terms and/or search results (e.g., Bistro Boudineand Café Francois) may be deemphasized, for example, using somewhatsmaller font sizes. It should be noted, however, that popular searchterms may be emphasized/deemphasized by way of alternative approaches,such as through a use of boldface type, varying color schemes, varyingfonts, and so forth, and claimed subject matter is not limited in thisrespect.

In some embodiments, search terms and/or search results pertaining toestablishments unique to a particular localized area may be emphasized.Thus, in the example of FIG. 3, if Alito's Restaurant, which may beunique to the localized region that includes Fisherman's Wharf, may beemphasized. Search terms and/or search results corresponding toestablishments located in many localized areas, such as popular andubiquitous coffee shops, fast food establishments, or the like, may bedeemphasized.

FIG. 4 shows a display device 400 rendering another possible userinterface. It is noted that in an embodiment, rather than an onlinesearch engine, instead, a database of identifier query search termsand/or search results may be collected and searched, such as viadatabase searching techniques. In the example of FIG. 4, a mobile deviceuser may be particularly interested in popular establishments within alocalized region that includes Fisherman's Wharf 120 of FIG. 1. As seenin FIG. 4, scrub bar slider 440 within window 410 has been positionedalong scrub bar 430 to correspond to a customary socializing period(e.g., “Happy Hour”) timeframe. Further, a day of a week correspondingto Friday has been indicated using day selector 460. Thus, a mobiledevice user searching for a popular venue at which a user may spend acustomary socializing period, such as a happy hour, may refer tosuggestions window 420 to establishments, such as “Players Grill,”“Harbor Restaurant,” and “Beach Bar” in decreasing order of popularity,for example. Again, in an embodiment, a database of collected termsand/or results may be searched rather than using an online searchengine, for example.

FIGS. 5A-5B are schematic diagrams of a portion of a map 500A showing alocalized region that may be characterized by one or more search termsaccording to an embodiment. For example, at a given time of a day, usersco-located with mobile devices 510, may submit one or more search termsand receive search results with greater frequency than a frequency atwhich particular search terms are submitted by mobile device userslocated elsewhere. In one example, one or more users co-located withmobile devices 510 within Chinatown neighborhood 140 may frequentlysubmit queries for certain Chinese food items, such as “dim sum,” justas an example, that may be submitted less frequently outside ofneighborhood 140, for example. However, if mobile device users, such asmobile device user 520, located nearby a localized region of Chinatownneighborhood 140, submit queries for “dim sum,” for example, at anincreased frequency, such as a frequency beyond a threshold amount, alocalized region of Chinatown neighborhood 140 may be expanded toinclude, for example, expanded localized region 550 as shown in FIG. 5B(500B). Accordingly, as mobile device users within expanded localizedregion of 550 submit search terms that may be seen with less frequencyoutside of an expanded localized region of 550, localized regions may beexpanded to encompass a larger area. For example, as previouslydescribed, just for purposes of illustration, a desert area may beamenable to expansion in comparison with a densely populated urban area.For example, in an embodiment, appropriate sizing may be a featureassociated with a client application of a web interface. Thus, in FIG.5B, expanded localized region 550 may be seen as corresponding toChinatown neighborhood 140′, which may comprise a localized region thatmay be described using vertices at 560.

Thus, in an embodiment, as previously discussed, submitted queriesand/or search results over a period (e.g., queries submitted to anonline search engine and/or results) may be collected and organized in adatabase in a variety of ways to capture localized region and/orlocalized time period, for example. After a database is generated, in anembodiment, such as via a client application or via a web site portal,as examples, a database may be made accessible to device users, such asmobile device users. Likewise, of course, a generated database may beperiodically updated, as well. One example embodiment of a method ofusing a database is illustrated in FIG. 6 and described below.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart for a method according to an embodiment. Exampleimplementations, such as those described in a method, such as embodiedas FIG. 6, and others herein, may include blocks in addition to thoseshown and described, fewer blocks, blocks occurring in an orderdifferent than may be identified, or any combination thereof. A methodembodied as FIG. 6, may begin at block 610. At block 610, a server, forexample, may receive query search terms from mobile devices within aparticular localized region and/or at a particular localized time frame,such as the Chinatown neighborhood, shown in FIG. 5A, during breakfasthours. Block 610 may further include receiving a query with search termsfrom mobile devices outside of a localized region, such as mobile deviceuser 530 of FIG. 5A, may be located outside of Chinatown neighborhood140, and/or outside a localized time frame. A method embodied as FIG. 6may continue at block 620, in which received query search terms may beindexed and entered into a database, such as according to a localizedtimeframe and/or localized region, for example, such as described withreference to FIG. 2. Block 620 may further comprise associating n-grams(e.g., bigrams, trigrams, and so forth) with query search terms. In onepossible example just to illustrate the point, a user entered querysearch term “ristorant in fisherman's warf” may be associated with thetrigram “Fisherman's Wharf restaurant.”

A method embodied as FIG. 6 may proceed to block 630, which may comprisefiltering n-grams that may correspond to localized regions outside ofthe localized region within which the mobile device may be locatedand/or the particular timeframe of interest to the mobile device user.Thus, in one possible example, n-grams that appear to have little ornothing to do with the particular localized region, and/or theparticular timeframe of interest to a user may, in an embodiment, beexcluded from further processing. At 640, query search term n-gramsand/or search results for the particular localized region and/orlocalized timeframes may be ranked within a particular localized regionand/or a particular timeframe. A variety of techniques for ranking ofrelevance are known and may be employed. Claimed subject matter is notlimited in scope in this respect. For example, queries for a much largerregion may be compared. Thus, for example, query search n-grams and/orsearch results pertaining to establishments not necessarily unique tothe particular localized region and/or the particular localized timeframe, such as commonplace coffee shops, fast food establishments, andso forth, may be ranked lower than establishments unique to thelocalized area and/or localized time frame or even omitted from adatabase in an embodiment. At block 650, query search terms (e.g.,n-grams comprising bigrams, trigrams, and so forth) and/or searchresults (and/or other content of related interest) may be transmittedacross a communications channel to a mobile device in an embodiment.

For purposes of illustration, FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram 700 of acomputing platform that may be employed for providing mobile deviceusers with localized and/or time-selectable search terms according to anembodiment. A computing platform, such as that embodied in FIG. 7 maycomprise computing device 710 that may be employed to perform operationssuch as, for example, described herein. In FIG. 7, computing device 710may interface with client device 712, which may comprise features of aclient device, for example. Communications interface 720, processor 750,and memory 770, which may comprise primary memory 774 and secondarymemory 776, may communicate by way of communication bus 740, forexample. In FIG. 7, computing device 710 may store various formscomputer-implementable instructions, by way of input/output module 730,for example, such as those that may be operative as, which may, forexample, parse search queries, arrange search queries into databasesindexed by timeframes and/or localized regions, arrange search terms,and so forth. Client 712 may communicate with computing device 710 byway of an Internet connection via network 715, for example. Although acomputing platform, such as the computing platform embodied in FIG. 7shows the above-identified components, claimed subject matter is notlimited to computing platforms having only these components as otherimplementations may include alternative arrangements that may compriseadditional components, fewer components, or components that functiondifferently while achieving similar results. Rather, examples areprovided merely as illustrations. It is not intended that claimedsubject matter be limited in scope to illustrative examples.

Processor 750 may be representative of one or more circuits, such asdigital circuits, to perform at least a portion of a computing procedureor process. By way of example but not limitation, processor 750 maycomprise one or more processors, such as controllers, microprocessors,microcontrollers, application specific integrated circuits, digitalsignal processors, programmable logic devices, field programmable gatearrays, and the like, or any combination thereof. In implementations,processor 750 may perform signal processing to manipulate signals and/orstates or to construct signals and/or states, for example.

Memory 770 may be representative of any storage mechanism. Memory 770may comprise, for example, primary memory 774 and secondary memory 776,additional memory circuits, mechanisms, or combinations thereof may beused. Memory 770 may comprise, for example, random access memory, readonly memory, or one or more data storage devices or systems, such as,for example, a disk drive, an optical disc drive, a tape drive, asolid-state memory drive, just to name a few examples. Memory 770 may beutilized to store a program, as an example. Memory 770 may also comprisea memory controller for accessing computer readable-medium 780, whichmay implement a database indexed by timeframes and/or localized regions,arrange query search terms, and so forth. Under direction of processor750, memory, such as cells storing physical states, representing, forexample, a program, may be executed by processor 750 and generatedsignals may be transmitted via the Internet, for example. Processor 750may also receive digitally encoded signals from computing device 710.

Network 715 may comprise one or more communication links, processes,and/or resources to support exchanging communication signals between amobile device and server, which may, for example, comprise one or moreservers (not shown). By way of example, but not limitation, network 715may comprise wireless and/or wired communication links, telephone ortelecommunications systems, Wi-Fi networks, Wi-MAX networks, theInternet, the web, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network(WAN), or any combination thereof.

The term “computing platform,” as used herein, refers to a system and/ora device, such as a computing device, that includes a capability toprocess and/or store data in the form of signals and/or states. Thus, acomputing platform, in this context, may comprise hardware, software,firmware, or any combination thereof (other than software per se).Computing platform 710, as depicted in FIG. 7, is merely one suchexample, and claimed subject matter is not limited to this particularexample. For one or more embodiments, a computing platform may compriseany of a wide range of digital electronic devices, including, but notlimited to, personal desktop or notebook computers, high-definitiontelevisions, digital versatile disc (DVD) players and/or recorders, gameconsoles, satellite television receivers, cellular telephones, personaldigital assistants, mobile audio and/or video playback and/or recordingdevices, or any combination of the above. Further, unless specificallystated otherwise, a process as described herein, with reference to flowdiagrams and/or otherwise, may also be executed and/or affected, inwhole or in part, by a computing platform.

Memory 770 may store cookies relating to one or more users and may alsocomprise a computer-readable medium that may carry and/or makeaccessible content, code and/or instructions, for example, executable byprocessor 750 or some other controller or processor capable of executinginstructions, for example. A user may make use of an input device and/oran output device, such as a computer mouse, stylus, track ball,keyboard, or any other device capable of receiving an input from a user.

Regarding aspects related to a communications or computing network, awireless network may couple client devices with a network. A wirelessnetwork may employ stand-alone ad-hoc networks, mesh networks, WirelessLAN (WLAN) networks, cellular networks, or the like. A wireless networkmay further include a system of terminals, gateways, routers, or thelike coupled by wireless radio links, and/or the like, which may movefreely, randomly or organize themselves arbitrarily, such that networktopology may change, at times even rapidly. Wireless network may furtheremploy a plurality of network access technologies, including Long TermEvolution (LTE), WLAN, Wireless Router (WR) mesh, or 2nd, 3rd, or 4thgeneration (2G, 3G, or 4G) cellular technology, or other technologies,or the like. Network access technologies may enable wide area coveragefor devices, such as client devices with varying degrees of mobility,for example.

A network may enable radio frequency or wireless type communications viaa network access technology, such as Global System for Mobilecommunication (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS),General Packet Radio Services (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment(EDGE), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced, Wideband CodeDivision Multiple Access (WCDMA), Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n, or other, orthe like. A wireless network may include virtually any type of nowknown, or to be developed, wireless communication mechanism by whichsignals may be communicated between devices, such as a client device ora computing device, between or within a network, or the like.

Communications between a computing device and a wireless network may bein accordance with known, or to be developed cellular telephonecommunication network protocols including, for example, global systemfor mobile communications (GSM), enhanced data rate for GSM evolution(EDGE), and worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX). Acomputing device may also have a subscriber identity module (SIM) card,which, for example, may comprise a detachable smart card that storessubscription information of a user, and may also store a contact list ofthe user. A user may own the computing device or may otherwise be itsprimary user, for example. A computing device may be assigned an addressby a wireless or wired telephony network operator, or an InternetService Provider (ISP). For example, an address may comprise a domesticor international telephone number, an Internet Protocol (IP) address,and/or one or more other identifiers. In other embodiments, acommunication network may be embodied as a wired network, wirelessnetwork, or combination thereof.

A computing or network device may vary in terms of capabilities orfeatures. Claimed subject matter is intended to cover a wide range ofpotential variations. For example, a network device may include anumeric keypad or other display of limited functionality, such as amonochrome liquid crystal display (LCD) for displaying text. Incontrast, however, as another example, a web-enabled computing devicemay include a physical or a virtual keyboard, mass storage, one or moreaccelerometers, one or more gyroscopes, global positioning system (GPS)or other location-identifying type capability, and/or a display with ahigher degree of functionality, such as a touch-sensitive color 2D or 3Ddisplay, for example.

A computing device may include or may execute a variety of now known, orto be developed operating systems, or derivatives and/or versions,including personal computer operating systems, such as a Windows, iOS orLinux, or a mobile operating system, such as iOS, Android, or WindowsMobile, or the like. A computing device may include or may execute avariety of possible applications, such as a client software applicationenabling communication with other devices, such as communicating one ormore messages, such as via email, short message service (SMS), ormultimedia message service (MMS), including via a network, such as asocial network including, but not limited to, Facebook, LinkedIn,Twitter, Flickr, or Google+, to provide only a few examples. A computingdevice may also include or execute a software application to communicatecontent, such as, for example, textual content, multimedia content, orthe like. A computing device may also include or execute a softwareapplication to perform a variety of possible tasks, such as browsing,searching, playing various forms of content, including locally stored orstreamed video, or games such as, but not limited to, fantasy sportsleagues. The foregoing is provided merely to illustrate that claimedsubject matter is intended to include a wide range of possible featuresor capabilities.

A network including a computing device, for example, may also beextended to another device communicating as part of another network,such as via a virtual private network (VPN). To support a VPN,transmissions may be forwarded to the VPN device. For example, asoftware tunnel may be created. Tunneled traffic may, or may not beencrypted, and a tunneling protocol may be substantially complaint withor substantially compatible with any past, present or future versions ofany of the following protocols: IPSec, Transport Layer Security,Datagram Transport Layer Security, Microsoft Point-to-Point Encryption,Microsoft's Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol, Multipath Virtual PrivateNetwork, Secure Shell VPN, or another existing protocol, or anotherprotocol that may be developed.

A network may be compatible with now known, or to be developed, past,present, or future versions of any, but not limited to the followingnetwork protocol stacks: ARCNET, AppleTalk, ATM, Bluetooth, DECnet,Ethernet, FDDI, Frame Relay, HIPPI, IEEE 1394, IEEE 802.11, IEEE-488,Internet Protocol Suite, IPX, Myrinet, OSI Protocol Suite, QsNet,RS-232, SPX, System Network Architecture, Token Ring, USB, or X.25. Anetwork may employ, for example, TCP/IP, UDP, DECnet, NetBEUI, IPX,Appletalk, other, or the like. Versions of the Internet Protocol (IP)may include IPv4, IPv6, other, and/or the like.

It will, of course, be understood that, although particular embodimentswill be described, claimed subject matter is not limited in scope to aparticular embodiment or implementation. For example, one embodiment maybe in hardware, such as implemented to operate on a device orcombination of devices, for example, whereas another embodiment may be,at least in part, in software. Likewise, an embodiment may beimplemented in firmware, or as any combination of hardware, software,and/or firmware, for example (other than software per se). Likewise,although claimed subject matter is not limited in scope in this respect,one embodiment may comprise one or more articles, such as a storagemedium or storage media. Storage media, such as, one or more CD-ROMsand/or disks, for example, may have stored thereon instructions,executable by a system, such as a computer system, computing platform,or other system, for example, that may result in an embodiment of amethod in accordance with claimed subject matter being executed, such asa previously described embodiment, for example; although, of course,claimed subject matter is not limited to previously describedembodiments. As one potential example, a computing platform may includeone or more processing units or processors, one or more devices capableof inputting/outputting, such as a display, a keyboard and/or a mouse,and/or one or more memories, such as static random access memory,dynamic random access memory, flash memory, and/or a hard drive.

In the preceding detailed description, numerous specific details havebeen set forth to provide a thorough understanding of claimed subjectmatter. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatclaimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details.In other instances, methods and/or apparatuses that would be known byone of ordinary skill have not been described in detail so as not toobscure claimed subject matter. Some portions of the preceding detaileddescription have been presented in terms of logic, algorithms, and/orsymbolic representations of operations on binary signals or states, suchas stored within a memory of a specific apparatus or special purposecomputing device or platform. In the context of this particularspecification, the term specific apparatus or the like includes ageneral purpose computing device, such as general purpose computer, onceit is programmed to perform particular functions pursuant toinstructions from program software.

Algorithmic descriptions and/or symbolic representations are examples oftechniques used by those of ordinary skill in the signal processingand/or related arts to convey the substance of their work to othersskilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, is consideredto be a self-consistent sequence of operations and/or similar signalprocessing leading to a desired result. In this context, operationsand/or processing involve physical manipulation of physical quantities.Typically, although not necessarily, such quantities may take the formof electrical and/or magnetic signals and/or states capable of beingstored, transferred, combined, compared, processed or otherwisemanipulated as electronic signals and/or states representinginformation. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasonsof common usage, to refer to such signals and/or states as bits, data,values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, numerals,information, and/or the like. It should be understood, however, that allof these or similar terms are to be associated with appropriate physicalquantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless specifically statedotherwise, as apparent from the following discussion, it is appreciatedthat throughout this specification discussions utilizing terms such as“processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining”, “establishing”,“obtaining”, “identifying”, “selecting”, “generating”, and/or the likemay refer to actions and/or processes of a specific apparatus, such as aspecial purpose computer and/or a similar special purpose computingdevice. In the context of this specification, therefore, a specialpurpose computer and/or a similar special purpose computing device iscapable of processing, manipulating and/or transforming signals and/orstates, typically represented as physical electronic and/or magneticquantities within memories, registers, and/or other information storagedevices, transmission devices, and/or display devices of the specialpurpose computer and/or similar special purpose computing device. In thecontext of this particular patent application, as mentioned, the term“specific apparatus” may include a general purpose computing device,such as a general purpose computer, once it is programmed to performparticular functions pursuant to instructions from program software.

In some circumstances, operation of a memory device, such as a change instate from a binary one to a binary zero or vice-versa, for example, maycomprise a transformation, such as a physical transformation. Withparticular types of memory devices, such a physical transformation maycomprise a physical transformation of an article to a different state orthing. For example, but without limitation, for some types of memorydevices, a change in state may involve an accumulation and/or storage ofcharge or a release of stored charge. Likewise, in other memory devices,a change of state may comprise a physical change, such as atransformation in magnetic orientation and/or a physical change ortransformation in molecular structure, such as from crystalline toamorphous or vice-versa. In still other memory devices, a change inphysical state may involve quantum mechanical phenomena, such as,superposition, entanglement, and/or the like, which may involve quantumbits (qubits), for example. The foregoing is not intended to be anexhaustive list of all examples in which a change in state form a binaryone to a binary zero or vice-versa in a memory device may comprise atransformation, such as a physical transformation. Rather, the foregoingis intended as illustrative examples.

While there has been illustrated and/or described what are presentlyconsidered to be example features, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the relevant art that various other modifications may be madeand/or equivalents may be substituted, without departing from claimedsubject matter. Additionally, many modifications may be made to adapt aparticular situation to the teachings of claimed subject matter withoutdeparting from one or more central concept(s) described herein.Therefore, it is intended that claimed subject matter not be limited tothe particular examples disclosed, but that such claimed subject mattermay also include all aspects falling within appended claims and/orequivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising, at a mobile computingdevice: acquiring wireless signals to compute an estimated position ofthe mobile computing device; receiving a user input comprising arequested time period; obtaining, from a database via a wirelesscommunications channel, suggested query terms or suggested queryresults, or a combination thereof, the database to be generatedresponsive to queries submitted to a search engine or associated queryresults for the requested time period, wherein the generated databasecomprises more popular submitted queries determined for a particularlocalized region to include the estimated position or a particularlocalized time period, or a combination thereof, based at least in parton the particular localized region or the particular localized timeperiod, or the combination thereof, wherein the more popular submittedqueries for the particular localized region or the localized timeperiod, or the combination thereof, include submitted queries thatcomprise identified n-grams based at least in part on the particularlocalized region, the localized time period, or the combination thereof;and emphasizing, on a display of the mobile computing device, one ormore of the obtained suggested query terms or suggested query results,or the combination thereof, and multiple user-selectable localized timeperiods comprising at least the requested time period.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the more popular submitted queries for the particularlocalized region or the localized time period, or the combinationthereof, exclude more popular submitted queries not specific to theparticular localized region or the particular localized time period, orthe combination thereof.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the localizedregion, the localized time period, or the combination thereof, comprisesa wide range of localized regions or localized time periods, or thecombination thereof, over the geographical areas of the Earth.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein the wide range of localized regions compriseslocalized regions having one or more irregularly shaped boundary or oneor more boundaries defined by at least a portion of a polygon.
 5. Themethod of claim 3, wherein the localized time period comprises a timespan measured in hours or portions of hours, or a combination of hoursand portions of hours, or a mealtime, or a customary occurrence.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the generated database employs location ortime stamp, or combination thereof, included with submitted queries togenerate the database.
 7. The method of claim 1, and further comprising:periodically updating the database.
 8. A method comprising at a mobilecomputing device: acquiring wireless signals to compute an estimatedposition of the mobile computing device; receiving a user inputcomprising a requested time period; obtaining, from a database via awireless communications channel, suggested query terms or suggestedquery results, or a combination thereof, the database to be generatedresponsive to searching a database, the database being of more popularqueries submitted to a search engine and associated query results for aparticular localized region to include the estimated position orparticular localized time periods comprising the requested time period,or a combination thereof, based at least in part on the particularlocalized region or the particular localized time periods, or thecombination thereof, wherein the more popular submitted queries for theparticular localized region or the localized time period, or thecombination thereof, include submitted queries that comprise identifiedn-grams based at least in part on the particular localized region, thelocalized time period, or the combination thereof; and emphasizing, on adisplay of the mobile computing device, one or more of the obtainedsuggested query terms or suggested query results, or the combinationthereof, and multiple user-selectable localized time periods comprisingat least the requested time period.
 9. The method of claim 8, whereinthe searching comprises: submitting search terms via an onlineinterface.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the online interfacecomprises a web interface.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein thesearching comprises: submitting search terms via a client application.12. The method of claim 11, wherein the client application executes onthe mobile computing device.
 13. The method of claim 12, furthercomprising: the mobile computing device rendering estimated position ofthe mobile device within the particular localized region.
 14. The methodof claim 12, wherein the mobile computing device displays popularqueries based, at least in part, on a user's history of searches.
 15. Anarticle comprising: a non-transitory storage medium comprisinginstructions stored thereon which are executed by a special-purposecomputer apparatus to: direct acquisition of wireless signals to computean estimated position of a mobile device; process a received a userinput to comprise a requested time period; obtain, from a database via awireless communications channel, suggested query terms or suggestedquery results, or a combination thereof, the database to be generatedresponsive to queries submitted to a search engine and associated queryresults for the requested time period, wherein generating to comprise adetermination of more popular submitted queries for a particularlocalized region to include the estimated position or a particularlocalized time period, or a combination thereof, based, at least inpart, on the position of the mobile device or the particular localizedtime period, or the combination thereof, wherein the more popularsubmitted queries for the particular localized region, or the localizedtime period, or the combination thereof, are to include submittedqueries that are to comprise n-grams to be identified to be based atleast in part on the particular localized region the localized timeperiod, or the combination thereof; and emphasize, via a display of amobile device, one or more of the obtained suggested query terms orsuggested query results, or the combination thereof, and multipleuser-selectable localized time periods comprising at least the requestedtime period.
 16. The article of claim 15, wherein the storedinstructions are additionally to: determine the more popular submittedqueries for the particular localized region or the localized timeperiod, or the combination thereof, via an exclusion of popularsubmitted queries not specific to the particular localized region or theparticular localized time period or the combination thereof.
 17. Thearticle of claim 16, wherein the stored instructions are additionallyto: determine the more popular submitted queries for the particularlocalized region or the localized time period, or the combinationthereof, via an inclusion of submitted queries that comprise identifiedn-grams based, at least in part, on the particular localized region thelocalized time period, or the combination thereof.
 18. The article ofclaim 15, wherein the stored instructions are additionally to: directthe mobile device to render the estimated position of the mobile devicewithin the particular localized region.
 19. The article of claim 18,wherein the stored instructions are additionally to: emphasize popularqueries based, at least in part, on a user's history of searches.